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Funeral for Canadian Air Force pilot killed in CF-18 crash held in Hamilton

'This was no accident in God's eyes, Thomas completed his mission,' his mother, Edith McQueen, told the service.

Fellow pilot and friend to Capt. Thomas McQueen, Capt. Jordan Rychlo, touches his casket after delivering the eulogy at the funeral service at the Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ont. on Wednesday, December 7, 2016. (Peter Power / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

By The Canadian Press

Wed., Dec. 7, 2016

MOUNT HOPE, ONT.—A military funeral for a Canadian Air Force pilot killed in a plane crash last week was held Wednesday at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Ont.

Capt. Thomas McQueen, 29, died after the CF-18 he was flying crashed during a training exercise near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border on Nov. 28.

Four CF-18 Hornets from 3 Wing Bagotville, Que., performed a flyby after the service.

Then a procession began to travel along an extended Highway of Heroes to Ottawa for a private burial at the Beechwood National Cemetery of Canada.

McQueen grew up on a farm near Hamilton and family members say he was proud to carry on the legacy of his grandfather, a pilot in the Second World War.

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His mother, Edith McQueen, told the service that becoming a fighter pilot was the “entire focus” of her son’s life until he met his fiancée and thanked the military for “giving Thomas the opportunity to fulfil his dream.”

“Whether the accident was pilot error or something out of his control we are resting in the truth of scripture, this was no accident in God’s eyes, Thomas completed his mission,” she said.

The day after the crash, Col. Paul Doyle, commanding officer of 4 Wing Cold Lake, described McQueen as “an incredible person” who “will be and is forever missed.”

Military pallbearers walk with the casket of Capt. Thomas McQueen at the beginning of the funeral service for the Canadian Air Force pilot at the Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ont. on Wednesday, December 7, 2016. (Peter Power/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

An investigation is underway to determine what went wrong.

“Operating a supersonic fighter aircraft in dynamic manoeuvring is not something that we take lightly,” Doyle said last week. “We make sure we train ourselves and prepare ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism.”

McQueen’s father, Tom, told Wednesday’s service that “the pain is crushing and numbing ... and yet we are so proud of the man who has sacrificed in service to his country doing the important job the he so loved.”

Cold Lake is the busiest fighter base in the country and provides fighter pilot training for all Canadian Forces pilots. The air weapons range covers almost 30,000 square kilometres spanning the two provinces.

At least 10 pilots have died in crashes of CF-18s since the military bought 138 of the jets for $5 billion in 1980.

Two police officers salute as the escort for the body of Canadian Air Force Capt. Thomas McQueen makes its way from the Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ont., where a funeral service was held, to Ottawa for burial. (Peter Power/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

In 2003, Capt. Kevin Naismith was killed when the CF-18 he was flying went down during an international training exercise at the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range. The 38-year-old was killed by the impact of a loose harness strap that snapped taut and struck his head. An investigation found the plane had spun out of control because of a malfunctioning stabilizer in the jet’s tail end.

The federal government has said many of the force’s aging CF-18s are out of service on any given day because of maintenance issues. The Liberal government is preparing to negotiate the purchase of 18 new Super Hornet fighter jets that it says it needs until a competition to replace the CF-18s can be finished.

The Air Force announced last month that all of Canada’s CF-18s will be able to fly until 2025.

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